Law makers on the budget committee of parliament are concerned that Soroti fruit factory is not functioning barely a few weeks after it was commissioned.
The factory was constructed using a grant from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), with the Teso Tropical Fruit Union and government through UDC owning 20 per cent and 80 per cent shares respectively. UDC is “the development and investment arm of government with the mandate to promote and facilitate the industrial and economic development of Uganda.”
Construction of the factory commenced in April 2015 and was scheduled to have been completed in 2016 to kick-start commercial production of processed mangoes and orange juice. The factory was meant to benefit from and use up the large quantities of mangoes and fruits grown in the area.
The chairperson of the trade committee of parliament Robert Kibirige Ssebunya says that the Uganda development cooperation had requested for over 35 billion shillings in the coming financial year 2019/2020 to have this factory operate but the ministry of finance has provided only 4 billion shillings.
The chairperson of the budget committee Amos Lugolobi says that they will not accept a factory which has just been commissioned to remain closed.
“We cannot accept a situation where a factory that has been commissioned to remain closed , because the factory has farmers whose supply oranges ,what are they going to do with the oranges they are going to harvest soon, throwing them in the bush, that is not accepted,” said Lugolobi
The MP said that they will look everywhere in the budget to ensure that they get money for this factory to continue operating.
But when The Chief Executive Officer for Soroti Fruit Factory, Ronald Kigongo appeared before the committee denied the closure of the factory saying people are still working , though they don’t have any products on the shelves, since product is still undergoing various tests to be certified by Uganda national bureau of standards.
One of the committee members also West Budama North MP Richard Okoth Othieno tasked him to explain, why they rushed to commission the factory when they were not ready.
The factory was financed by the Government of Uganda through the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) while the Korean National Cooperation Agency (KOICA) contributed US$7.4 million.
The factory employs about 150 people directly in the plant and about 1,000 farmers in the region. The facility currently makes orange and mango juice and the future plans entail making a variety of fruit juices.
